Rematch in Stile(s)
by FirefliesUnite
Summary: After Stiles and Scott's Halloween prank, Derek tries his best to get even with the boys. But what can he do against a hyperactive mastermind who seems to be able to foil every plan he comes up with?


Rematch in Stile(s)

Derek almost furiously paced up and down his loft. He went from the living room to his bedroom, then to the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room again, continuously growling under his breath.

Nothing was working. He was being _bested_ by a… wait… how old was that kid anyway? Derek stopped for a second before shrugging and resuming the aggravated pacing. He scratched his beard and it brought back the anger at full throttle. The audacity!

'Those damn brats.' He shouted throwing a random book through the room.

He leaned against the table opposite the wall of windows and took a deep breath. He just wanted to get even with Stiles and Scott. Was that too much to ask? He threw himself into the only armchair he possessed and massaged his temples. All of his plans had been foiled so far, all of them. Stiles, seemingly effortlessly, countered every prank, trap or humiliation Derek had tried throwing his way. Not only that, he did it with a smile. That annoying belittling smile of someone who knew they were better and smarter… It drove Derek insane. He huffed and closed his eyes. He didn't know how much more his bruised ego could take…

Then it suddenly hit him. That was it! He jumped to his feet and rushed to his desk, sweeping everything to the ground, pulling out a new sheet of paper and grabbing the black flipchart marker. The pen screeched away, marking the dawn of a new plan.

_And this time_, Derek grinned, _it is going to work._

'What was that?' Stiles asked, pointing towards the papers Derek had just shoved into a drawer.

'Nothing.' The werewolf shrugged, not moving an inch from the desk. The sheriff's son narrowed his eyes. Before he could say anything Scott went on talking about the possible new threat they had come across. It was barely 1pm, school had ended early and they had come over to inform Derek about what was going on, only to surprise him scribbling away on paper. When confronted the man got defensive and quickly shoved the papers out of sight. Highly suspicious according to one very active minded teenager.

'I'm telling you, he is up to something.' Stiles gave Scott a meaningful glance while halting at a red light.

'Are you sure?' Scott sighed. 'He doesn't have to share every detail of his life with us you know…'

'Scott.' Stiles turned to his friend. 'For the past four weeks that guy has been trying to get back at us for the Halloween incident…'

'I knew we should never have done that!' Scott interjected but his friend went on.

'And I've thwarted every single one of his efforts. The way I see it, this is just the next attempt in his long line of, admittedly pitiful attempts at outsmarting me.' The boy grinned.

'Stiles, this is not a game.' Scott rolled his eyes.

'Of course it is!' The car roared as the hyperactive boy stepped on the gas pedal. 'And I am up for the challenge!'

The same night Scott found himself in front of Derek's building, like on that night four weeks ago.

'Why are we here?' He asked his friend, who produced a strangely large set of keys.

'We need to keep one step ahead of our friendly neighborhood werewolf.' Stiles answered before swinging the door open. 'Let's find out what he has to hide!'

'Why am _I_ here…?' Scott muttered to himself before obediently trotting after someone who had been getting him in and out of trouble ever since they were kids.

Derek's apartment was quiet and empty. Stiles had made sure of that before they came. Scott was starting to think that the boy spent way too much time monitoring their circle of friends and acquaintances. He didn't even want to ask about the keys and the booklet of codes and numbers the teen seemed to be carrying around lately.

'Scott, over here!' He heard Stiles call and followed the voice into Derek's room. In the dim light that filtered through the dusty windows Scott saw the outlines of a huge board, covered by a large canvas Stiles was just about to pull off. The fabric fell heavily to the ground, whirling around dust, stirring the air and Scott blinked some sand corns away before actually being able to look at the scribbling on the board. What he saw, in the light of his and Stiles' torches took him aback.

'I can't believe it.' He breathed.

'I knew it!' Stiles said almost triumphantly.

'I mean…' Scott gestured at the top of the board with his torch. 'Who the hell writes 'REVENGE' in big bold letters on a sheet like this?'

Stiles shone the light directly into his eyes.

'Really? Tall, dark and broody, and you can't believe that he would sprawl REVENGE in big bold letters over his master plan? The guy is a cartoon villain in real life. Even when he smiles he looks like he's brooding over something.'

Scott gaped at his friend.

'You've seen Derek smile?

Stiles shot him an incredulous glance.

'Focus Scott! That is really not the point here!' The two boys turned back towards the large board and Stiles proceeded in examining the notes and ideas written all over it.

'I can't make heads or tails of this…' Scott finally admitted. 'You?'

'Give me a minute…' The boy scoffed. Fifteen minutes later he was still mumbling to himself and Scott yawned.

'Stiles. This is useless. Just take a picture of it with your phone and let's go!'

Reluctantly his friend complied and they left after making sure to erase their presence from the loft.

'I promise I'll figure this out before Christmas!' Stiles assured his friend, while starting the engine and almost driving against a lamp post.

'Dude!' Scott jumped. 'Just get me home alive first!'

Weeks passed by and Stiles was no closer to figuring out Derek's plan. The boy spent hours locked in his room, writing information on his own board, connecting thoughts with colored strings. So far, the red strings populated the overview he had tried to make himself. Any further attempts at sneaking into Derek's apartment had yielded no success. It seemed the missing information was either locked away somewhere else or existed solely in the werewolf's head.

Sometimes they would have pack meetings and Scott would try not to cringe at the tense interaction between his best friend and his former mentor. The two were bickering almost constantly. When they weren't' at each other's throats Derek spent most of the meetings fuming in a corner and staring off into space, Stiles in return spent most of his time staring at the older werewolf, piercing him with his gaze as if to get inside his head in order to figure out when or how his revenge would be enacted.

There has to be some kind of clue I can find, Stiles thought to himself while observing the brooding wolf. That bastard! He thinks he is ahead of me this time. I'll show him, like I've shown him before. Prank calls? Please, I invented the stuff. Damaged furniture that would cause you pain and hilarity to your surroundings? Check. Completely turning someone's surroundings into an obstacle course? Stiles had to grin at that. Yes, Derek. Check on this Halloween.

'Stiles, what the hell, this is serious…' Kira whispered while elbowing him. He shot her an apologetic glance.

Oh, probably shouldn't let my thoughts wander too much… His attention turned towards the werewolf again. Derek was sitting next to the window, arms crossed over his chest, expression dark and pseudo-threatening as always. There was really nothing about this guy he couldn't predict. So why on earth couldn't he figure out what the hell he was up to? He had to break into his apartment again. He tried getting Scott's attention but the alpha was way too busy talking about some threat or other in the area. What was he saying about life or death? Stiles didn't really care. This was way more important!

He suddenly stood up and left the room.

'Stiles!' Scott called after him. And was that the shadow of a smile he had seen creep over Derek's face? He shook himself. Keep your wits about you Stilinski. If you want to win this game, you have to play it cool until the end.

He opened the door to his room and was surprised that he almost couldn't breathe anymore. He rushed to the windows and tore them open, letting in light and air in equal measure. Then he went to sit in his chair and stared at the overview board he had created so far. More and more theories had popped into his mind only to be immediately discarded. He had way too many distractions. His dad kept bugging him about midterms, Scott and the others constantly called about pack related things… Why couldn't they see that this took priority? The last pack meeting was weeks back and he couldn't even say with certainty if they had resolved the issue or not. What he could relate in detail were his numerous attempts to access more information on Derek's plan. Like the last time for example… Stiles sighed at the memory. He shouldn't dwell on failure. Though it was getting to him that he was constantly failing. When had Derek gotten this smart? He wondered… It was no surprise that he was playing this one very close to the chest. Stiles stood up and ripped all the information he had gathered from the board. He had to start over. There was clearly something he was missing… But what? He took out a new set of papers, a new set of pens, a new set of colored strings. Maybe this time… Maybe…

The bags under Stiles's eyes were growing deeper and darker while Derek's mood seemed to become wary and distant. Stiles took these as signs of imminent danger and spent days and nights keeping himself and Scott on alert to eventual attacks.

Whatever, this big plan was, it was ruining their lives. Scott decided to talk to Derek once midterms were over. This was really not a time in his life he needed further problems. He was having a hard time studying anyway. He had originally hoped to get help from Stiles but ultimately had to ask Lydia who sighed and let him the join the growing number of people she was tutoring.

'I'm worried about Stiles.' He once confided in Lydia who pulled her do-I-look-like-I-care face. 'He isn't well. This whole Derek thing is getting out of control.'

'Have you tried talking to Derek about it?' She asked through a mask of indifference.

'I'm waiting until after midterms when I'll be less busy.' The young alpha said.

'Sensible.' Lydia pressed her lips together. 'Considering how badly you are doing in maths _and_ physics…' She tapped a pencil against the notepad and Scott bit his lip before scribbling down a wrong answer.

The day of their midterms Scott showed up to school early and stood outside the doors of the examination room, fidgeting like everyone else. Being a true alpha unfortunately didn't guarantee you good grades. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder. He swung around to stare into a face he barely recognized.

'Whoah!' He exclaimed despite himself. 'Stiles?'

He hadn't seen the teen for weeks. He wasn't answering e-mails, texts and wouldn't let anyone in his room. His dad couldn't say for sure either what he was up to. Then again, Sheriff Stilinski rarely had a clue of what was going on anyway… Now he was staring into the pale, haggard face of his best friend whose expression was tainted with annoyance and impatience.

'Of course it's me! Who else?'

'Well… you look awful.' Scott said slowly. 'Are you sure you are alright?'

'I'm this close to cracking Derek's code.' The sheriff's son grinned.

'Code?' The alpha asked. 'What code?'

'The plan, Scott! Derek's plan is a code! I am sure of it!'

The two boys couldn't interact any longer, the tests were starting. Scott wished everyone good luck, hoping Stiles wouldn't trip and fall while staggering through the doors and slumping down onto his seat.

'I hope this goes well…' He whispered to himself.

Somewhere outside a lone figure was staring through the windows.

'Let the games begin.'

'I passed!' Scott stared at the board showing the results and almost hugged the first person in relief, despite that person being the principal.

The rest of Beacon Hills high school slowly but surely worked their way to the front row, crowding around the board. Each student came away shocked, relieved, happy, concerned or devastated.

Scott looked around and saw Lydia and Kira talking, excitement gleaming in their eyes.

'Guys, I passed!' He said as a greeting and this time hugged Lydia. 'Thank you so much for helping me!'

'Not a problem.' The ginger girl threw her hair back and gave him one of her rare genuine smiles. Scott smiled and planted a cheeky kiss on Kira's lips. 'Congrats to you too!' The two looked at each other but before the look could deepen into a kiss a hoarse, guttural howl drew their attention towards the dwindling number of students going to find out their results.

'What the…?' Scott barely had time to frown as Stiles emerged from the confusion of limbs and bodies, pale as death, flailing.

'I failed!' He said, voice failing, eyes bulging. 'I failed _all_ of my classes.' He cried wringing his hands. 'I… I… I have to…' He couldn't finish the sentence.

'Retake all the exams.' Came an amused voice from behind them. Stiles spun around to stare into the face of one very relaxed and cheerful looking Derek Hale. 'I think reexaminations are in a month, after the break. You'd better start studying now.'

'You…?' The sheriff's son's eyes narrowed, then widened, understanding dawning on his face. 'You did this?' Disbelief echoed in his voice.

'Nonsense.' Derek smiled broadly. 'I wouldn't tamper with your tests, if that is what you mean.'

'Then what…?' Stiles was breathing hard, exhausted in body and mind. He stared at the man who had become something like an obsession in the last months and spread his arms. 'Bring it on. Whatever prank you have planned, bring it. This can't possibly be worse than what is happening right now.'

Derek lifted his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. There was a slight pause until the clockwork in Stiles' brain started functioning again.

'No.' The teen gasped. 'This can't be.' He looked at the others who had followed the scene without understanding anything. 'You had a code! There is a code! I am sure of it!' He almost pleaded.

'What on earth are you talking about?' Derek's eyes sparkled with glee while the innocent undertone in his voice drove home the hard truth.

'There is no prank… there is… this…' Stiles grabbed his head and stared at the muscular man in front of him. 'You…' He couldn't continue the sentence. Meanwhile Derek simply stood there, tilting his head to one side, looking very satisfied with the world in general.

'It's been fun, Stiles, very much so. I admit I never imagined it would go this far. But you just couldn't let it go, could you? Couldn't believe I could actually be smarter. And it brought us all here. I'm glad I came around today. Your face is priceless. I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for anything in the world.' He grinned. Then suddenly he leaned forward.

'Revenge is a bitch, isn't it?' He whispered into Stiles' ear. Then he straightened up again and pranced away whistling an old familiar tune.

'I've never seen Derek this happy…' Kira shuddered. 'It is creepy.'

'Stiles?' Scott asked while his best friend turned to him, agony lining his face.

'That… That… SON OF A BITCH!'

Somewhere outside, Derek smiled to himself. Stiles ranting away behind his back, was music to his ears. He could almost pity him. Then he remembered the numerous times the kid had messed with his life, his beard, his clothes, his loft, his car and he decided that someone had needed to teach him a lesson in humility.

'Pride goes before the fall.' He nodded to himself and decided that this was a good day to be alive.


End file.
